15 June 2011
euronews will reinforce its presence in Brussels by setting up a new team of over twenty people, as well as a studio and the latest production facilities. This new 600 sq. m office is ideally located in the heart of the European district and has become the largest international news bureau located in the European Capital.
The euronews teams report on European affairs and international news in 10 languages*, soon to become 12. This multilingual and multicultural team will also be equipped to broadcast live as events unfold.
In the presence of Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Pier Luigi Malesani, Chairman of the Euronews S.A. Supervisory Board, Philippe Cayla, Chairman of the Executive Board and Michael Peters, Managing Director, inaugurated the Brussels euronews bureau.
The office is located at 223-225 rue de la Loi, near the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission, just off the Robert Schuman roundabout and opposite the European Union’s Department for Foreign Affairs.
Accompanied by Lucian Sârb, Directeur of News and Programmes as well as Peter Barabas and Gardenia Trezzini, Editors-in-Chief, they presented the new team and their objectives. The opening of this new bureau is part of an agreement signed in December 2010 with the European Commission.
Opening a comprehensive newsroom in Brussels is a strategic step for the channel and fits in with its desire to cover European affairs in greater depth. euronews’ coverage of European affairs will now be even more responsive, accurate and comprehensive.
Through reports, interviews, special editions, via link-ups or live broadcasts, the Brussels bureau will cover the daily news concerning these institutions as well as any political, social, cultural or sports events. It will welcome numerous international personalities to the offices as they pass through the European capital. euronews’ unique pan-European view of international news will be considerably broadened.
The creation of this bureau will enable the production of more original programmes addressing Europe-specific topics and has already led to the launch of two of the channel’s new flagship programmes.
– I Talk, an interview show presented by Alex Taylor, the highly respected and renowned multilingual European journalist, and made in a virtual studio. In keeping with his informative and yet relaxed style, Alex Taylor interviews a guest on a 3D set, bringing euronews’ into a whole new dimension,
– The Network, the euronews talk-show. The debate is presented by Chris Burns, eminent Europe correspondent of dual nationality who has lived in Europe for 18 years. Chris brings together three personalities with diverging opinions and points of view. Each guest is invited to answer Chris Burns’ questions on the day’s topical issue.
The Brussels news team will be in permanent contact with Lyon and will participate via video conference in the editorial meetings. The team based at 223-225 rue de la Loi, will consist of:
– 1 Bureau manager – Brussels Bureau: Sergio Cantone, permanent correspondent for euronews in Brussels since 2004, he will be bureau co-ordinator, team manager and he will implement working procedures between Brussels and the Lyon headquarters. The euronews office in Brussels will really benefit from Sergio’s knowledge and experience in the field.
– 1 assistant Bureau Manager who will organise team work alongside the Bureau Manager.
– 10 permanent journalists: Olaf Bruns (German edition), Paul Hackett (English edition), Audrey Tilve (French edition), Margherita Sforza (Italian edition), Fariba Mavaddat (Farsi edition), Alan Gülsum (Turkish edition) and on a temporary basis: Charles Salamé (Arabic edition), Rafael Cereceda (Spanish edition), Maria Barradas (Portuguese edition), Galina Polonskaya (Russian edition).
euronews has selected Headline NFP to set up these new offices. Headline provides audiovisual services, from the installation to the operation of the TV control room/studio, the set, the editing room and the master control room. Headline also provides teams of cameramen and production teams to assist euronews’ own teams in Brussels, including on-site technical manager (Dietrich De Bruyne), and production assistant (Maribel Garcia).
15 June 2011
Voice of America and the Pakistani cable TV channel, Express 24/7, celebrated the 100th edition of their groundbreaking co-production, “The Platform,” with a special program Tuesday featuring a live studio audience in Pakistan posing questions to guests in the United States.
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jamie Rubin, who is now Executive Editor at Bloomberg News, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, now a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, fielded a range of questions on U.S.-Pakistan relations.
Rubin, speaking from New York, said he was very worried about the future of relations between the two countries. He said ties have suffered since Osama bin Laden was discovered living in Pakistan and because of the perception that Pakistan is not doing enough to battle terrorist groups.
Members of the studio audience in Lahore raised the sensitive issue of U.S. drone strikes against militant targets inside Pakistan that have resulted in civilian casualties and anger about violations of Pakistans sovereignty.
VOA Acting Director Steve Redisch called Tuesdays 100th episode of The Platform an excellent example of thoughtful and informed debate that benefits all sides on an issue of critical importance to the United States, Pakistan and its neighbors.
VOA host Kokab Farshori says the prime-time, English language show, which airs Mondays and Tuesdays, has a growing audience in Pakistan because it often tackles topics that are not discussed on other stations in Pakistan.
VOAs Raza Naqvi, who also hosts the show, says The Platform offers perspective and balance that viewers cant get elsewhere. Naqvi says it is the first prime-time news program in Pakistan to present U.S. policy experts who can offer counter arguments and opinions on hotly-debated issues.
The Platform is broadcast from the VOA TV studios in Washington and from the Express 24/7 studios in Lahore. Direct satellite links between the facilities and to remote locations allow hosts and guests to freely engage in debate. The program is re-broadcast on YouTube and with Urdu language subtitles on Express 24/7s Urdu cable channel, one of Pakistans leading media outlets.
In addition to the live broadcast of The Platform, VOA and Express 24/7 have created a joint Facebook page for the program to facilitate an ongoing dialogue with the audience. For more on The Platform, visit www.voanews.com and click on our Urdu language page.
13 June 2011
MBC Group announced today that it is preparing for the upcoming launch of a mass campaign to promote and push for quicker HD shift and persuade free-to-air viewers to make a one-off purchase of a (Technosat) HD set-top box in order to enjoy the greater clarity of HD TV. The campaign includes the allocation of advertising space across all MBC channels and media platforms, including its main websites www.mbc.net and www.alarabiya.net, as well as radio stations, MBC FM and Panorama FM, not to mention numerous regional Arabic and English print publications.
In this context, Mohammed Windawee, Director of Distribution of MBC Group, said: The scale of this campaign highlights the commitment of MBC group in offering top quality television content delivered to mass viewers in High definition format.
On his part, Andrew Maskall, Senior Marketing Manager for MBCs Western Channels commented on the campaign saying: This multi phase campaign will celebrate the difference that HD makes to MBC programmes. Our initial driver is movies which look wonderful in HD and we then expect demand to be high leading up to a variety of HD programming in Ramadan. The campaign value exceeds 10 million dollars and will span over a period of three months.
9 June 2011
Eurosport audience ratings for the 2011 Tennis French Open broke all-time audience records and strong audience increases were posted across Europe.
– Best ever audience reach with 56 million different viewers during the two week period of competition on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 combined.
– Best ever LIVE average audience on Eurosport with 1,062,000 viewers during the whole tournament, an increase of +18% vs 2010.
– Best ever LIVE average audience for a men’s Final on Eurosport with 2,653,000 viewers for the Nadal – Federer match (+ 40% vs 2010).
Eurosport’s exhaustive coverage of the tournament from 23 May – 5 June on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, featured 305 hours of broadcast including 191 hours of Live action which attracted these record breaking audiences.
Excellent performances were also recorded for Eurosport’s exclusive on site magazine hosted by Mats Wilander Game, Set and Mats broadcast LIVE in evening primetime. The programme reached 19 million different viewers throughout the tournament on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.
Eurosport has drawn exceptional TV audiences for many of the big international sporting events broadcast during the first six months of this year. This demonstrates once again Eurosports capacity to attract the largest number of sports fans through a strong and diverse programming offer.
– 50 million different viewers for Tennis Australian Open in January
– 114 million different viewers for the 2010-2011 Wintersports season
– 50 million different viewers for Snooker World Championships in April
– 33 million different viewers for the Giro dItalia (Cycling Tour of Italy) in May
3 June 2011
Voice of Americas popular nightly news program “TV Ashna” will stay on the air in Afghanistan for another five years under the terms of a new contract signed this week by VOA and Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), the government broadcasting organization.
VOA Director Designate David Ensor told reporters at the signing ceremony in Kabul that he was delighted that there is a new contract that extends the partnership between VOA and RTA. Under the agreement, RTA broadcasts the VOA program.
“TV Ashna,” a one-hour VOA news broadcast in the Dari and Pashto languages, has gained a growing audience in Afghanistan with its dynamic interviews, news and sports reporting. The program airs six nights a week, Saturday through Thursday.
Ensor, who is currently Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, thanked RTA for its cooperation with VOA, saying both organizations are committed to freedom of the media and quality reporting on issues that matter to Afghanistan.
The Director General of RTA Mohammad Zarin Anzoor said, “We are witnessing an extension for 5 more years of VOA Ashna TV which will be heard in Afghanistan from 6 pm to 7 pm daily.”
In addition to news from Afghanistan and the region, “TV Ashna” reports on U.S. and international developments, including extensive coverage of the uprisings in the Middle East and world reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden.
VOA Dari and Pashto websites have also grown in popularity over the past three years and the content is delivered on mobile browsers, social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, and a daily email news summary offered to subscribers.
For the latest international news or for more information about VOA and its programs, visit www.voanews.com. For VOA Dari visit www.voanews.com/dari/news. For VOA Pashto, visit www.voanews.com/pashto/news.
